Who profiteered the most from GST tweaks? CCI has clues

livemint.com:

Real estate developers have topped the list of businesses facing consumer complaints for suspected goods and services tax (GST)-related profiteering, data from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) showed. CCI decides on the merit of customer complaints based on an investigation by the Directorate General of Anti-Profiteering (DGAP), which comes under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

Since last May, when it regained its full quorum after a brief spell of vacant positions, CCI has issued around 44 orders on complaints of businesses allegedly pocketing the benefits of GST rate reduction or tax credits meant for consumers. Over three-fourth of those orders deal with complaints against real estate developers, while movie halls and food outlets accounted for the rest.

While CCI ordered developers to compensate consumers in certain instances, cases were dropped in the case of several others as the profiteering charges were not proven. Typically, when profiteering is established in the case of a real estate project, a separate probe is initiated into other projects of the same builder.

In some of these cases, profiteering has not been proven, but the high number of complaints keeps up consumer pressure on developers. Experts pointed out that several factors contribute to this trend.

“Buying a home involves transactions worth crores of rupees, a stark contrast to purchasing everyday items like clothing or fast-moving consumer goods, which fall into a much lower price range. This substantial financial commitment encourages buyers to exhaustively investigate every available option to ensure they fully capitalize on any tax advantages available to them," said Rajat Mohan, executive director at Moore Singhi, an